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Report on the International Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond

Document number
1796
Date
2006
Title
Report on the International Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond
Author/publisher
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Violence, Human rights violation, Crime against humanity, War crime, Armed conflict, Post-conflict situation, Terrorism,
Summary
Sexual violence in conflict is not new. Employing widespread acts of sexual violence to terrorizeand demoralize the enemy is a practice as old as war itself. However, it is only over the pastdecade that public awareness of the scourge of sexual violence in conflict settings has steadilyincreased. Numerous voices have called for immediate steps to quell a human rights abuse thattraumatizes and often physically damages women, undermines their psychophysical health,breaks down communities and retards or reverses societal development.This symposium comes at a time when sexual violence is increasingly recognized as a human rights violation and development issue in countries affected by conflict. The United Nations has taken up the issue in the Security Council, in high-level reports on issues ranging from peace-building to United Nations reform, and in new frameworks and guidelines for humanitarian action. The International Criminal Court has recognized rape in conflict situations as a war crime and/or crime against humanity, and a growing number of post-conflict countries are taking steps to address in their legal and policy frameworks the provisions outlined in United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, war and peace.
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